Just six are on the world’s ten-biggest list. On the lowest end are lorries, hi-tech facilities for celebrities, and two houses with 200 bedrooms each
The owners of superyachts are well known for their outrageous names, outlandish decor, glamorous lifestyle and multi-million-pound inheritance from wealthy parents. Although there is no love lost between the superyacht owners and the cruise ship industry, a few owners opt for streamlined cargo vessels to go out with their boats.
10. Prestige, 197 feet
“God has been good to me”, announces owner David Phelps in the wine room of his $200m house on board the Prestige. The house is a nearly mansion size; there are 20 bathrooms, two bedrooms and a spa. During his lifelong love affair with Italian craft, Phelps has been drawn to the traditional yacht design: a double ovoid hull, with helipad, a gym, and yachtsports facilities. Despite this modern appearance, the house is decked out in traditional design elements including a 600-year-old Calabrian leather sofa (around 60 feet long) imported from the south of Italy.
9. Scylla, 194 feet
Earning an estimated $200m from oil and diamond trading, Cyprus-based family athens is estimated to have spent some $200m on their yacht. It has been built from gypsum blocks quarried in Greece, has an elevator for both sailing and land travel, with “magnetisation” for heat and power generators. It is said to be the largest ship to use magnetic technology for power generation. Fancy bathrooms include a “lesbian spa” complete with exotic plants and a bottle of hand-selected Balinese gold-plated imported bath bombs.
8. Elegant Occasion, 195 feet
“Elegant Occasion” could be a reference to the luxurious and memorable country parties – themed around flower arranging and black-tie – that this superyacht has hosted at his deluxe Monaco home. Throwing a grand celebration, named simply “Dazzling Occasion”, the event has included games of table tennis and card. Built using 60-ton load-bearing steel and titanium masts, Elegant Occasion is a cruise-only vessel with four additional deck spaces. It has a cinema, a shooting gallery and a shark tank. “Enjoy them,” says the Greek-born owner, “they won’t last long.”
7. Eden, 195 feet
Owned by the Senate of Bulgaria, who have it with plasterers having had to remove tons of limestone from its hull. It is said to be the largest yacht ever built in a gypsum-based mould. Euro-chic, with towering domes with scarlet ceilings and illuminated windows, this boat sports an impressive helipad, a helipad, a nightclub, multiple dining areas and a waiter station that looks like a hot-spray pool.
6. Raffles, 182 feet
The highest ever gross tonnage for a vessel built according to the Italian Vitruvian method (rather than the cutting stone model most superyachts are built on), the Raffles has a spa in its salon and is said to spend 20% of its time on land. Built by the well-known Italian manufacturers Acciai e Cruzzos, Raffles has 200 bedrooms. The owner, a 65-year-old prince of Singapore, said: “Raffles is as beautiful as a Rolls-Royce and as comfortable as a sofa”.
5. Sterling, 182 feet
As well as the huge house on board, the vivacious Los Angeles-based Sterling is built on top of an aircraft carrier hull. Deposits include a Park Avenue duplex, a Rolls-Royce and a smaller yacht. The owners for whom the boat is built live large and boast their own yacht club. The boat is so large that the installation of a sea elevator “pairs” it with a neighbour’s superyacht in an area that usually divides into two.
4. Il Lido, 186 feet
Il Lido has no bathroom. When the building’s owner, Hans Gauge, completed his first yacht in 2003, he decided to construct a Second Empire villa on top of the vessel, giving the two big houses an even more opulent appearance. A retired mail and marine shipping executive and founding member of the Seven Seas Group, he married his first wife in a chapel built into the walls of the vessel.
3. Hillsmere, 177 feet
The largest yacht built to date, having beaten his own previous record, the 182ft Hillsmere appears to be a home in a sea, part of a piece of Spanish coastal land known as Lloret de Mar. Famous for yachting holidays and charity fetes, the 90-year-